Explosive projectile.



PATENTED SEPT. 8, 1903.

H. s. MAXIM. BXPLOSIVB PROJEGTILE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1901.

2 SHBETS-SHEBT 1.

N0 MODEL.

PATBNTED SEPT. 8,' 1903.

H. s. MAXIM.

EXPLOSIVE PROJECTILE.

PPLIIN FILED JULY 16, 1901.

'2 SHEETS-SHEET z,

N() MODEL.

NTTE STATES Patented Sept-rubor 8, 1903 IIIRAM STEVENS MAXI, OF LON'lOY, l `r\'lil..\ `\'l.

EXPLOSIVE PROJ ECTILE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 738,621, dated September 8, 1903.

Application tiled July 16,1901. Serial No. 68.539. l'No model.

Be itknown that I, IIIRAM STEVENS MAXIM, chevalier of the Legion of I'Ionor, civil and mechanicalengineer, a subject of the King of Great lritain, residing at IS Queens Gate Place, in the county of Middlesex, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Relating to Explosive Irojectiles, et which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to explosive projectiles, and particularly to armor-piercing explosive projectiles that are intended for large and heavy guns of about ten-inch caliber and upward.

Several years ago I devised and patented, under British Patent No. 17,252 of 1887, means for preventing the premature explosion of an explosive projectile on shock of discharge by employing what is termed a delayed-action fuse-that is to say, a movable detonating charge or fuse placed in a tube extending outside the projectile-so that said fuse normally lies at a distance so far from the projectile that a premature explosion of the fuse would only disrupt the tube and not explode the main charge in the projectile. On impact of the projectile the fuse was released from its distant position relatively to the project-ile and then traveled by its own momentum toward and finally struck a tiring-pin within the projectile, thus deto- -nating the main charge.

One of the objects of my present invention is to make the aforesaid tube or chamberproject into the space containing the explosive charge and to provide it with means, such as a comparatively heavyshutter orslidc, which is normally held by a spring or other appropriate device in a position between the movable fuse and the tiring-pin at the inner end of said tube. The said shutter or slide is so formed that it will move from this position against the resistance of the said spring by the action of centrifugal force due to the revolution of the projectile during its flight from the gun,-thereby leaving a freepath for the fuse to advance and reach the firingpin on impact of the projectile. The said shutter or slide is also provided with means, such as a catch or catches, so arranged that when the slide shifted out of the path of the lusc, as aforesaid, itis maintained in that position. A projectile havinga fuse of this description 'may be handled with the greatest safety, because until tlieln ojcctile is tired from the gun there is no direct communication between its' fuse and the firingpin. \Vhen, however, the projectile is lined from the gun, the said communieation is opened and'rcmainsopen during the flight of the projectile. Therefore when the projectile strikes the armor-plate and commences to penetrate it (thereby diminishing the velocity of the projectile) the fuse. continues its forward movement, and when or after the projectile has passed throng-h 4thearmor-plate the fuse reaches and its detonator collidcs with' the firing-pin, thus exploding the fuse, which in turn detonatcs the maincharge inthe projectile. Ita projectile .provided with a delayedaction fuse of this kind should have its fuse prematurely detonated by the shock of. discharge while the projectile is still in the gun, only the external portion of the tube or chamberor that part containing the fuse will be disrupted, thelshutterorslide preventingdisruption of the internal part of the tube or chamber and detonation ol` the main charge in the projectile. In such a 'projectile also thepfuse may be readily and safely detached for inspection at any time by the removal of a screw plug or cap at the outer end of the external portion ot said tube or chamber. According to a modification ot' my invention and where the projectile is large enough to permit thereof I may dispense with the external projecting portion of the at'oresaidtube or chamber and arrange said fuse and said shutter or slide-in a cavity in the base of the projectile leading tothe said internal tube or chamber, and in this case I may provide the projectiicwithatletachable base-plateofsuch a shape that there. will bc formed an isolating-chamber completely inclosing the outer end ol' the fuse, into which chamber in the event ot a premature detonation of the fuse taking place the resulting gases and fragments oi' metal will be received and contained without entering the charge-chamber of the gun. In some cases I make the aforesaid IOO bare-plate capable of deformation or nlovement toward the base of the projectile under the pressure of the powder-gases in the gunon IE ring, so as to squeeze and force outwardly -able metal te against th'e bore of the gun an obturator-ring, as is well understood, the said obturator-ring being constructed vand arranged to operate as hereinafter described.. A thin ring of comparatively soft metal, such as brass or copper, may also be interposed between the face ofthe obturatorering and the base-plate, the edge of said metallic ring extending beyond the periphery of said base-plate, so that onA the firing of the gun the edge of the metallic ring, which is not covered by the base-plate,

will be bent rearwardly and cover the peripheral edge of the base-platewith a suitprevent its injuringr the bore of the gun.A

In order that my said invention may be fully understood and readily carried into practice, I will describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which v I Figure l is av central longitudinal section, and Figs. 2 and 3 are transverse sections thereof on the line 5 5, showing one form of, my explosive projectile in which the shutter or slideis in two portions adapted to open by sliding apart. This form is suitable for pro-l jectiles of eightvor nine inches diameter.'

Fig. 2 represents the shutter closed, and Fig. 3 represents it open. Fig. 4: is a central longi'tudinal section of another form of the pro-V jectile provided with a two-part shutter and in which there is lno rearwardly-extending tube orchamber for the fuse and onlyashort tube extending into the explosive charge of the projectile. This form of the projectile is especially suitable for charges of black powder. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional View showing the position which the parts therein illustrated approximately assume after firing.- Fig. 6 is across-section on theline 7 7of Fig. 4.

In all these figures like letters of reference indicate similar parts.

Ais the body of the projectile, containing the explosive charge.

B is the fuse. C is the tube, that extends from the chamber wherein said fuse is housed into the space of the projectile containing the said explosive charge. v C' is the firing-pin, lo-

cated at the inner end of said tubeand against which the detonator of the fuse B strikes Whensaid fuse is released and permitted to travel independently on impact ofthe projectile. keeping said shutter closed.

E is the base-plate or disk.

F is the obturator-ring, G the driving-band, and II the wall of the gun.

Referring first more particularly to Figs. 1

to 6, the fuse B is situated in a chamber a,

extending rearwardly from a screw-threaded block A', that closes the opening in the base of the projectile through which the explosive charge is introduced. The outer end of the said chamber is closed bya screw-plug a2, which is furnished with a hexagonal or other suitably-shaped head for enabling it to be readily removed for access to be had to the r in the drawings.

D is the shutter or slide for normally fuse whennecessary. The aforesaid screwthreaded block A'is--formed with a lateralis normally. kept in its closed position-that .ls to say, in the path of the fuse-,shy means of a light spring d. The said shutter-is of considerable thickness and weight, and the j cavity in which it is situated is radial with respect to the axis of the projectile. The said spring is sufficiently strong to keep the shutter in its closed position under all vordinary circumstances attending the handling of the projectile; but on the firing of theprojectile from the gun and its flight through the air the said spring will give way under the centrifugal force acting on the shutter, and so permit the latter to assume its ontward or open position, and thereby leave a clearpassagefor the fuse to advance toward and reach the firing-pin C after the 'projectile strikes an object, as aforesaid. In order to retain the shutter in its open position,

catches in the form of'sp'ring-bolts d' are provided for engaging with corresponding recesses a4. These spring-bolts may be located in the shutter D or in the Wall ofthe cavity as. d? is a central pin .orcore extending through said spring d for prevent-ing the latter from becoming displaced or deformed by the shock of discharge. The shutter -is formed with a cavity or hole di' for the inner endA of said pin to enter as the shutter assumes its open position. I may employ springs of different shape to that represented For instance, curved-blade springs may be used instead of the helical springs shown. It will be obvious that so long as the shutter remains closed the fuse cannot advance along the tube C nor reach the firingpin C', and that in the event of a premature IIO lexplosion of the fuse on shock-of discharge the said heavy shutter will prevent the shock of such explosion from being transmitted to the main charge of explosive in the projectile, such premature explosion of the fuse only causing the chamber a containing it to be disrupted or destroyed, as represented inwhich are held together in apposition to close the tube C by means of two catches or springbolts d4, these two parts of the shutter being adapted to separate and open, as shown in Fig. 3, under the action of centrifugal force during the flight of the projectile, in which position said parts are retained by the catches or spring-bolts engaging with the recesses d5. These spring-bolts d* are normally prevented from entering their recesses dXX and releasing the shutter by pins dx, of copper or other soft metal, located in the said recesses. On

shock of discharge the said bolts fully enter mer of which is made of very hard vulcanized fiber or Woodite and the latter of a softer form of such material.

The arrangement illustrated in` Figs. 4 to Gis similar to that illustrated by Figs. l to 3, with the exception that the tube C is made shorter, and therefore needs no further description.

The projectile is, asalready stated, especiallyintended for use with eirplosiv'e charges of'black powder.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In an explosiveprojectile, the combination of a delayed-action fuse, of a shutter adapted to normally lie between the detonator of said fuse and itsring-pin, of a bolt for retaining said shutter in this position until acted upon by the shock of discharge, and of a light spring tending to keep the bolt pressed forward and operating to return said bolt and rengage it with the shutter by the time the latter has been opened by the action of centrifugal force during the flight of the projectile from the gun, substantially as described.

2. In an explosive projectile, the combination of adelayed-action fuse, and of a shutter adapted to normally lie between the detonator' of said. fuse andits tiring-pin, of a bolt for retaining s'aid shutter in this position until acted upon by the shock of discharge, of a softmetal pin located behind said bolt for normally preventing it from being shifted but which becomes displaced by the movement of the bolt on shock of discharge, and of a light spring tending to keep the bolt pressed forward and which operates to return said bolt and rengage it with the shutter b y the time the latter has been opened by the action of centrifugal force during the Hight of the projectile from the gun substantially as described.

.3. In an explosive projectile, the combination of a delayed-action fuse vsituated in a, chamber at the base of the projectile, of a ring-pin situated within the body of the projectile at a point remote from said fuse and opposite its detonator, of a shutter normally lying between said fuse-chamber and said firing-pin until `shifted by centrifugal force, of a detachable dome or dishedbase-plate forming an isolating-chamber around the rear portion of thefuse-chamber, of a light metallic detachable cover for closing the outer end of said fuse-chamber, and of a pin for connecting the fuse to said detachable cover and adapted to be severed to release the fuse on shock of impact substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 3d day of July, 1901.

HIRAM STEVENS MAXIM.

Witnesses:

THOMAS SELBY WORTH, W. M. HARRIS. 

